


Mr. E

by BravoWriters



Category: Bravo Team (RvB OC)
Genre: F/M, OCs - Freeform, Original Characters - Freeform, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-26 03:57:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15655296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BravoWriters/pseuds/BravoWriters
Summary: Mer!Au





	1. Hooked

Elliot never liked fish hooks. Since the time he got caught on one, and the mark it left never faded away, he does his best to avoid them. So when he comes face to point with one, he comes to a hurried halt. Over the years, fishermen stopped coming to the lake because they never found themselves catching any fish. It’s been some years since the last time he saw a hook in the water.

Even small towns get new residents sometimes. Or maybe someone was trying again to catch fish. Cautiously, Elliot follows the line up to the surface but he doesn’t dare get close enough to be seen. He knows better. It’s difficult to see what’s on the other side of the surface though. They’re at the end of the dock but that’s all he knows. He positions himself under the wooden planks and gets closer to the stranger that’s fishing in his lake.

Just as he reaches the bottom of the dock a hand plummets into the water, shaking dirt off, then, just as quickly as it appeared, its gone. Elliot shot back at the sudden presence and could feel his heart racing away in his chest.

He moves as close to the support pillar as he can and tries to see the fisherman without being seen himself. No matter how he tries to arch his neck there’s no seeing over the dock without possibly getting discovered. It isn’t something he is willing to risk. Instead, Elliot sinks down to the hook to shoo fish away from it. Maybe, he thinks, if they don’t catch anything they won’t come back again. Just being there he scares the smaller fish away. Braver, larger fish swim past but keep enough distance that he’s sure they won’t come to check the bait.

As it turns out, guarding hooks is as boring as he remembers it to be. Fishermen are so patient, even when nothing is happening. He couldn’t possibly do it himself. When he wants a fish he gets it. Fishermen, though, they’re stubborn. In order to curb his boredom, he pulls on the hook, careful not to let himself get damaged by the pointy end. There’s only a short moment before the fisherman tries to reel him in. Oh this is much more fun than just floating around!

Keeping the tension on, he follows the hook slowly to the surface. When he can start to make out the edge of the dock he shifts between the support pillars so he can get closer to the fisherman before he releases the hook and watches it break through the surface. He pokes his head out of the water just in time to hear the fisherman make noises.

This fisherman, however, doesn’t make the same sounds as the other ones. This one sounds are nicer to listen to than the others. Elliot sinks back into the water. Why does this fisherman sound different than the others? What does he look like? A little ways away the hook drops back into the water. He quickly decides to mess with the human on the other end of this line again and grabs the hook, dragging it down as fast as he can until it stops abruptly. He holds it there for a moment, feeling the effort from the other end.

It takes him about ten seconds to decide what to do next. Carefully, _very_ carefully, Elliot pulls on the hook as hard as he can, swimming down further. Much to both of their surprise, the fisherman falls into the water, the disturbance so sudden that he drops the hook as soon as he hears the muffled sound of the man hitting the surface.

But this man is much smaller than most. From a distance, he realizes this isn’t a man at all. This is female! He’s seen females before, but never as often as the males. It doesn’t take this female long to scramble back out of the water. A moment later she has her rod out of the water and is reeling the hook back in.

_Did she see him when she fell in?_

Elliot dashes for the edge of the water, where some trees hang over, their roots and leaves are difficult to see through from a distance. He can’t see her very well, but he can tell she’s more preoccupied with her rod than what’s in the water. He wants to get closer to look at her, but he’s too afraid to leave the coverage of the trees.

It didn’t take the fisherfemale long to re-situate herself and send the hook back into the water for a third time. Elliot pushes himself back against the bank. He should have gotten a better look at her when she was in the water. At least now he knows why she sounded different, _nicer_ , than all the people he had heard before.

Watching her between the roots and foliage, Elliot absentmindedly touches the spot on his shoulder where he can feel the scar. They are dangerous. All he wants is to look at one up close, but they’re _dangerous_ and he’s afraid to get near one. What if… What if they want to take him out of the water, like they do with the fish? He doesn’t want to be eaten, and he doesn’t want to leave and never come back. It’s just too scary. He won’t go near them, no matter how badly he wants to, he _won’t_.

From his hiding spot, Elliot watches the fisherwoman sit at the end of the dock until the sky gets dark. She doesn’t catch anything, which makes him wonder if this is the last time he’s going to see her. He navigates to a different part of the bank, at the edge of the trees and watches as she gathers her things, swims back up the path, and disappears. He remains in his hiding spot a little longer before he swims to the dock and pulls himself up enough to look at the place where she had been sitting. There’s not a trace of her left behind. He dives back into the water and sets off to find something to eat.


	2. Touch

The sun goes around a few times before he sees anyone at the lake again. He’s always checking to see if someone’s decided to swim or fish, even if most of his time he’s alone. The sun is rising and that means fishermen are more likely to show up. Or fisherfemales. His back pressed against the ground, Elliot had himself crammed under the shallow end of the bridge.

If he lays really still, fish will try to swim right over his hands. He easily loses track of time as he tries to close his fingers around the little friends in the water. It’s not until he hears someone swim overhead that he remembers what he’s doing there in the first place. 

Turns out he isn’t going to be spending the day alone after all. Curiously, he tries to peek through a hole in the wooden path. As he get closer to the gap he accidentally knocks his head on the dock, hard enough to make a sound. Immediately, Elliot sinks back into the water and maneuvers away from the gap, but keeps close anyway. The person swims back to where he hit his head. They stop. Elliot sinks a little further back, just in case. He can see by their shadow that they’re looking through the hole. 

Then a moment later over the side of the dock, the fisherfemale appears! He’s much closer this time, and he can see her face a little better, even if it is upside down. Unable to find what made the noise, she swims back to the end of the dock and rests. Is it called swimming? What they do to move without fins, is it swimming? 

Elliot shadows her beneath the water until he reaches the last support pillar. Slowly,  _ carefully _ , he moves so his head is above the water. There’s more room and he doesn’t hit his head against the wood this time. Although, if he did he wouldn’t mind too much if he had, especially if it means he can see her look over into the water again. He wraps his arms around the pillar and listens as the fisherfemale makes the pleasant noises like she did last time. 

It doesn’t take long for her to throw a hook into the water. Trying to get fish again? He wonders, briefly, if she’s trying to eat. She didn’t catch any fish the last time she was here… was she okay? Elliot looks up at the dock above him, where shes sitting, wondering if she needs to get fish. Do all fishermen need fish? Suddenly, it’s all he can think about! If she needs to eat, and fish is what she wants, is she okay if she can’t get any? 

After a moment of worrying, Elliot dives back into the water and swims after the first fish he sees. They can be hard to hold onto, but if he gets one that isn’t taller than his palms, he’s found he has less trouble holding them. Once he has the fish it takes him a moment to spot the hook. He really hates them. Just thinking about it he looks at the spot on his pretty shoulder and frowns. Such an ugly spot. 

He’s seen fish eat hooks before, it’s how they get pulled out of the water, so all his fish has to do is eat the hook right? However, when he holds the fish up to the pointy trap, it just stares at it. Elliot takes the hook, being very careful not to pull too hard on it, just in case, and bumps the fish’s mouth with it. Finally it springs to life and bites onto the hook. He lets it go and it rushes off in the other direction. 

That’s when the fisherfemale notices and the fish’s hurried flee is brought to a halt. It looks like the fish isn’t going to swim away from this so Elliot quickly returns to the dock to listen to the noises she makes. 

Oh he’s not disappointed either. Still, he’s also not sure if the sounds are good ones. Is she happy? Will she be happy because she can eat? How hungry is she? Was the fish he picked big enough? Should he get her more? Elliot looks around. Maybe he should get more for her. What does she need? How many? Will she leave when she gets enough? He doesn’t really want her to leave, not if he gets to listen to her make sounds, but he also wants her to eat.

Decidedly, Elliot shoots off to get another fish. This time he doesn’t wait for her to throw the hook into the water, he thrusts the fish out of the water and up onto the dock. 

What he doesn’t know is that she hasn’t even caught the other fish yet. So when the fish he tried to give her flops back into the water, he panics. Why didn’t she grab it? Does she not know how without the hook? Just then he notices the first fish frantically fighting the line pulling him in. Maybe she only knows how to get them with the hook. That _has_ to be the answer. 

Elliot darts after the fish he just caught to catch it again. It’s not that difficult for him to catch fish so he doesn’t mind swimming around to get them. In no time at all, Elliot has the fish again. This time, though, he waits patiently for the hook to sink back into the water so she can get the fish the only way she seems to know how. He doesn’t know how many fish she’s going to need, but he decides he’s going to help her until she has them all. 

The hook sinks and he repeats what he did a moment ago. It’s more difficult this time, but eventually he does let the fish go. 

He only needs about two fish before he’s satisfied, but he doesn’t know if two will be enough. Sure enough, the hook hits the water once again. Three. Four. Five fish later the hook sinks back into the water. Honestly, he’s surprised that five doesn’t seem to be enough. Elliot hangs onto the sixth fish, hesitant to put it on. If she wants more… he should let her have another one right?

She needs to survive. So, Elliot hooks the fish. 

Again the hook appears. It’s strange to be putting fish on a hook instead of taking them off but he wants to make sure this fisherwomen has enough. Getting fish with a hook isn’t very efficient but it seems to be the only way she knows. If he’s going to help he might as well help her get what she’s looking for. 

Every time he thinks she’s done, she sends the hook back to the water. He’s used to swimming around all day but never quite like this. He wants to curl up and close his eyes. 

The hook awaits though, so he rushes to get another fish. By the time he comes back the hook is gone. Elliot looks for it then rushes to the dock. Is she still there? Did she leave? Did she finally catch enough fish? From the safety beneath the platform, he looks up to see if she’s still there. 

Much to his relief, Elliot can see her shadow just at the end of he dock. Maybe she decided she did enough and was about to leave. He doesn’t really want her to leave. If anything he wants her to lean over again so he can see what she looks like a second time. It’s too risky to make noise again, if she sees him he doesn’t know what will happen, but he doesn’t want to find out. Instead he will just have to deal with it. 

Like the day before, the fisherwoman’s hand plunges into the water, but this time it doesn’t disappear immediately. It just remains within reach. Something pulls his hand towards hers, a force he doesn’t quite understand, but he can’t stop himself from brushing the tips of his fingers over the back of her’s. It’s strange how alike they look. If he didn’t know any better, he would think she was like him. That isn’t the case, though. Almost immediately her hand vanishes above the water line and he quickly reels back. 

He wonders if she’s going to look over the edge of the dock again but instead there’s no movement that he can hear. Was she afraid of him? Did she think he was something that was going to eat her? What if this time she really never came back? Elliot raises himself a little over the water. She isn’t making the noises he likes so much and he feels like there’s a weight in his chest. 

Elliot’s fingertips still tingle. Her scales didn’t feel like the fish. They didn’t feel like his tail either. They felt like the scales on his arms, the scales on his hands, on his chest, his face. None of the other fish in the lake felt like that. He wants to touch her hand again. Once again he looks up to check on her, this time because he can tell she’s moving.

Her hook never drops back into the water. After some moving around, he can see her swimming back up the path. The sun hasn’t even dropped and she’s already leaving. The heavy feeling in his chest becomes heavier. At least, he tells himself, at least she won’t go hungry. He helped her get enough fish to eat and be happy for days. That puts a good feeling back in his chest. 

He swims after her as she follows the path, but at the end of the dock he runs out of space and can’t continue. Her shadow disappears. 

Elliot crams himself against the shallow bank like he did that morning and brings his fingertips close to his face to examine them. How is it, he wonders, that he’s never seen another fish in the lake that looks like him, and the  _ closest _ thing he’s seen that does... doesn’t have a tail? 

Elliot rolls onto his side, exhausted from the constant swimming, and stares blankly at the nearest support pillar. Why aren’t there any fish like him in the lake? Why is it just him? Alone?


End file.
